DEAR ABBY: I am a 12-year-old girl in seventh grade. My parents are divorced, and my father has remarried. My parents have shared custody and make joint decisions about me.
My mother has given me permission to shave my legs, but my father says I am not old enough because that is what my stepmother tells him to say.
My stepmother reads your column, and if you agree that I am old enough to shave my legs, she will tell my father that I should be able to, and then my parents will be in agreement. -- HAIRY AND SELF-CONSCIOUS IN OHIO
DEAR HAIRY: I am glad to help. The time a girl should begin to shave her legs is when she becomes conscious of the fact that she needs to. It's not a matter of "age." It is when she's old enough to do it carefully and not injure herself. And 12 is about average. I hope your stepmother sees this and relents.